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There isn't a collective bargaining agreement in place and there's no certainty the league and Players' Association will come to a deal before Friday's deadline, but teams are getting ready to open training camp next Saturday.

Since the NHL wants to start a 48-to-50-game schedule on Jan. 19, there isn't going to be a lot of time to make preparations if the players do sign on the dotted line so a lot of work is being done behind the scenes as talks continue.

A check around the league Saturday indicated that many coaching staffs, who haven't been in their NHL cities during the lockout, will be begin arriving in the next couple of days to finalize whatever preparations are necessary for camp.

Since the players are going to require medicals, teams are realistically only going to have five or six days on the ice before the start of the season, which means the coaches are going to have to cram in a lot in a short period of time to prepare for an already crammed schedule.

Though the players would like exhibition games, that's likely not going to happen. Sources say GMs will get serious this week about trying to tie up whatever loose ends they have with their rosters by looking at free agency and trades.

Many GMs will be flying home from the world junior championships in Ufa, Russa, and heading straight into the office to try to get a handle on what work needs to be done for what is going to be a quick turnaround.

The Montreal Canadiens still need to resign restricted free agent blueliner P.K. Subban and the New York Rangers have to get RFA defenceman Michael Del Zotto under contract as well. The turnaround time to get those deals done is going to have to be pretty quick.

League sources say the referees and linesmen, who haven't been getting paid during the lockout, have been told to be prepared for a two-day "refresher" camp next week in Toronto despite attending one in September.

The NHL has schedules of 48 and 50 games drawn up with no out of conference play. The league will try to keep as much as the original schedule as possible but opening night will likely focus on rivalry games to attract attention.

NHL teams gearing up for season

There isn't a collective bargaining agreement in place and there's no certainty the league and Players' Association will come to a deal before Friday's deadline, but teams are getting ready to open training camp next Saturday.

Since the NHL wants to start a 48-to-50-game schedule on Jan. 19, there isn't going to be a lot of time to make preparations if the players do sign on the dotted line so a lot of work is being done behind the scenes as talks continue.